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JOSEPH HAYDN (1732–1809)
String Quartet No. in G major, .
:
e string quartet occupied Haydn throughout
most of his compositional career; he composed
at least works for four strings. His rst works
were written perhaps as early as
and were
entitled divertimentos, an indication of their
lighter musical style and informal social func-
tion. During the next years, Haydn elevated
the genre to an art form on a level of sophisti-
cation with the symphony and concerto. By the
time he composed his nal quartet—the un n-
ished Quartet in D minor, op.
( .
: ),
from
—he had established both the formal
design and texture of the string quartet. Haydn
never ceased his experimentation within the
genre, and the later quartets demonstrate the
exibility of his approach.
Haydn composed the six op.
string quartets
( .
: – ) in
and
, simultaneous
with the genesis of his oratorio
e Creation
.
e composer intended these pieces for Count
Joseph Erdödy, an important patron of music
in Vienna, who had o ered Haydn a commis-
sion the previous year. Some of these quartets
were completed in June of
and performed
by Haydn for Frederik Samuel Silverstolpe, Swe-
den’s diplomat to Vienna, who wrote, “A few days
ago I went to see Haydn again, who now lives
right next to me, since he gave up his customary
winter and spring lodgings in one of the suburbs
[Gumpendorf] and moved a whole quarter of a
mile away. On this occasion he played to me, on
the piano, violin quartets which a certain Count
[Erdödy] has ordered from him and which may
be printed only a er a certain number of years.
ese are more than masterly and full of new
thoughts.”
ese quartets, Haydn’s last completed set, were
originally published by Artaria in
in two
volumes of three quartets each, as opp.
and
. Later that year, the London publisher Long-
man Clementi & Co. brought them together in
a single publication under the latter opus num-
ber. Although Haydn retained his traditional
four-movement structure in these works, he ex-
plored unusual tonal relationships, concentrat-
ed melodic writing, and new formal designs for
the individual movements.
is fresh approach immediately appealed to
the public. A report in the
Allgemeine Musika-
lische Zeitung
commented, “ ese quartets, the
announcement and arrival of which have really
delighted the reviewer, are again proof of the in-
exhaustible, never-ending source of mood and
wit that come from their famous composer; they
are wholly worthy of him.
e reviewer could
hardly single out any as being the best, for they
are all original and beautiful.”
Striking and extreme contrasts of mood and style
are hallmarks of the Quartet No.
in G major,
.
: .
ree full chords at the beginning of
the
Allegro con spirito
splinter o into an unac-
companied cello phrase and an answer from the
viola solo. Only gradually does Haydn restore
the entire ensemble.
e development feigns
Baroque fugato textures and circles of hs. e
Adagio sostenuto
is pure lyricism, a poignant
song without words. Simple, unadorned violin
lines divert attention from Haydn’s complex de-
sign and harmonic twists. Halting motives near
the end are rhetorical in nature.
Although the third movement is called
Men-
uetto
, its
Presto
tempo imparts a
scherzo
-like
quality. In the
trio
, pizzicatos accompany a Län-
dler-like violin melody before the restatement
of the
Menuetto
. Rapid- re triplet motion gives
a driving edge to the minor-key
Finale
. A sec-
ond theme adds lightly syncopated folk-dance
charm. Haydn returns to G major in the coda, a
farcical pizzicato section.
BELA BARTÓK (1881–1945)
String Quartet No. ,
Bartók composed a total of eight string quar-
tets, but the earliest two works (unnumbered,
from
) are now lost.
e six remaining
pieces nonetheless mirror his development
as a composer.
e Quartets No. (
) and
No. ( ) re ect the Romantic expression of
Bartók’s early music, in uenced by Beethoven’s
quartets and their independent treatment of the
four strings and concentrated musical materi-
al. Quartet No. followed a er a -year gap,
during which Bartók’s writing had transformed
from lyrical Romanticism to a more contrapun-
tal, chromatic musical language, which the last
four quartets have in common. Quartets No.
(
) and No. ( ) both follow a ve-move-
ment scheme with material mirrored across the
central piece. Quartet No. ( ) returned to
the traditional four movements, but these are
uni ed by a musical motto.
Quartet No. was written in Budapest between
July and September
.
e Waldbauer-Ker-
pely Quartet, which had advocated works by
modern Hungarian composers such as Bartók
from its
formation, gave the rst perfor-
mance on March ,
(though when Univer-
sal Edition published the score later that year, it
bore a dedication to the Pro Arte Quartet). e
quartet’s musical language is characterized by
dissonant, contrapuntal writing. emes consist
of short motives built from narrow intervals.
At times, these have the sound of folk music.
e spectrum of instrumental color is enlarged
through the use of innovative e ects, including
multiple stops, strumming of the strings, several
di erent types of pizzicato (such as snapping on
the ngerboard), glissandos, and playing with
the bow near the bridge.
Bartók’s overall organization is the composi-
tion’s most remarkable feature. All ve move-
ments are organized in an arch-like, palindrom-
ic form. e rst and nal movements center on
the pitch C and are related by a common theme.
e second and fourth movements, both
scher-
zo
-like, share thematic material.
ese move-
ments call for unusual playing techniques—
mutes and pizzicatos.
e second movement
revolves around E (major third above C), and
the fourth movement centers on A- at (major
third below C).
e central
Non troppo lento
is
the quartet’s only slow movement.
e
Allegro
conforms to sonata form. All the-
matic material is derived from the loud cello
motive heard near the end of the rst phrase.
e quiet viola theme transforms this motive. A
third, highly dissonant variation occurs before
the end of the exposition. Development further
emphasizes this germinal fragment: the mo-
tive begins the recapitulation’s opening phrase,
and the second and third themes return greatly
varied. Motivic development continues until a
nal, emphatic reiteration. Strings play muted
throughout the mercurial
Prestissimo
. ere are
two themes: the rst is the chromatic viola–cello
line that opens the movement, and the second is
derived from the interval of a minor third. ey
are combined near the end with a pizzicato and
glissando accompaniment.
Joseph Haydn by Thomas Hardy (1791)
Béla Bartók
RAVINIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2018
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